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Desert ‘carbon Farming’ To Curb CO2
Desert ‘carbon farming’ to curb CO2
1 August 2013
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By Matt McGrath
Environment reporter, BBC News
Scientists state that planting great deals of jatropha trees in desert areas could be an effective way of suppressing emissions of CO2.
Dubbed “carbon farming”, scientists state the concept is financially competitive with modern carbon capture and storage tasks.
But critics state the concept could be have unforeseen, negative impacts including increasing food prices.
The research study has actually been released, external in the journal Earth System Dynamics.
Seeds of modification
Jatropha curcas is a plant that came from Central America and is extremely well adjusted to extreme conditions including exceptionally arid deserts.
It is already grown as a biofuel, external in some parts of the world because its seeds can produce oil.
In this research study, German researchers showed that one hectare of jatropha could capture as much as 25 tonnes of co2 from the atmosphere every year. The researchers based their price quotes on trees currently growing in trial plots in Egypt and in the Negev desert.
“The results are overwhelming,” stated Prof Klaus Becker, from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart.
“There was good development, a good reaction from these plants. I feel there will be no problem trying it on a much bigger scale, for example ten thousand hectares in the beginning,” he stated.
According to the researchers a plantation that would cover three percent of the Arabian desert would absorb all the CO2 produced by cars and trucks and trucks in over a 20 year period.
The scientists say that a vital component of the strategy would be the availability of desalination centers. This indicates that initially, any plantations would be restricted to seaside areas.
They are wanting to establish larger trials in desert areas of Oman or Qatar. Prof Becker states that unlike other plans that simply balance out the carbon that people produce, the planting of jatropha might be a great, short-term service to environment change.
“I believe it is a great concept because we are actually drawing out carbon dioxide from the atmosphere – and it is totally different between extracting and avoiding.”
According to the scientist’s calculations the costs of curbing co2 through the planting of trees would be between 42 and 63 euros per tonne. This makes it competitive with other strategies, such as the more high tech carbon capture and storage, external (CCS).
A variety of nations are presently trialling this innovation, external however it has yet to be deployed commercially.
Growing jatropha not just soaks up CO2 but has other advantages. The plants would help to make desert locations more habitable, and the plant’s seeds can be collected for biofuel state the scientists, providing a financial return.
“Jatropha is perfect to be become biokerosene – it is even better than biodiesel,” stated Prof Becker.
But other specialists in this location are not encouraged. They indicate the truth that in 2007 and 2008 large numbers of jatropha trees were planted for biofuel, particularly in Africa. But numerous of these ventures ended in tears,, external as the plants were not extremely effective in handling dry conditions.
Lucy Hurn is the biofuels campaign supervisor for the charity, Actionaid. She states that while jatropha was as soon as viewed as the great, green hope the reality was very different.
“When jatropha was presented it was seen as a miracle crop, it would grow on scrubland or marginal land,” she stated.
“But there are often individuals who need marginal land to graze their animals, they are getting food from that area – we wouldn’t class the land as limited.”
She mentioned that jatropha is extremely hazardous and can pollute the land it is grown on, even in a desert. And she also had concerns about the fairness of the idea.
“It is still somebody else’s land. Why enter and grow these massive plantations to handle a problem these individuals didn’t actually cause?”
Follow Matt on Twitter, external.
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Related internet links
Universität Hohenheim
European Geosciences Union
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